Euroleague sharpshooter James Nunnally has no doubt he can make an impact with the Timberwolves, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reports. Nunnally, who made 55.4% of his threes while playing for Fenerbahçe of Turkey last season, signed a two-year deal with Minnesota. “I’m ready to get out there and play and take advantage of every opportunity that comes,” the 6’7” Nunnally said. “I know this team needs three-point shooting and wants to pick up the pace of play this year. I know that I can bring that and help in that aspect.” Nunnally’s minimum deal has a $350K guarantee, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- Alex Kennedy passes along a follow-up note on Trevor Booker‘s deal with China’s Shanxi Brave Dragons, tweeting that Booker received interest from the Cavaliers, Heat, and Timberwolves, and also turned down an offer from Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv before signing with Shanxi.
AUGUST 8, 10:05am: The Timberwolves have officially signed Nunnally, the team announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 7, 3:26pm: Nunnally’s two-year deal with the Timberwolves will be worth the veteran’s minimum and will include partial guarantees, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
AUGUST 7, 12:57pm: Former Sixers wing James Nunnally is set to return to the NBA, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, who reports (via Twitter) that the Timberwolves have agreed to sign Nunnally to a two-year contract.
Nunnally, who played his college ball at UC Santa Barbara, went undrafted in 2012 and has played in a handful of leagues since then. Besides appearing in 13 total games for the Hawks and 76ers back in 2013/14, the 28-year-old also played in 84 G League contests and has spent time with teams in Greece, Puerto Rico, Spain, Israel, Italy, and Turkey.
Most recently, Nunnally played for Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce, serving as a key rotation player on a club that also featured Brad Wanamaker, Jan Vesely, Luigi Datome, and Jason Thompson. In 29 EuroLeague contests last season, Nunnally averaged 9.3 PPG and made an eye-popping 55.4% of his three-point attempts.
Nunnally, who was also linked to the Trail Blazers and Rockets this offseason, will bring his shooting ability to a Timberwolves roster that was in need of another long-distance marksmen. While a minimum-salary deal seems likely, Minnesota did have the ability to offer its bi-annual exception ($3.382MM) or the rest of its mid-level exception ($2.05MM) if necessary.
AUGUST 7: The deal between the Magic and Jefferson is now official, per a team release.
JULY 27: The Magic have reached a two-way contract agreement with forward Amile Jefferson, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.
The former Duke power forward was on the Timberwolves’ roster last season. He signed a two-way contract in January, then received a standard contract late in the regular season. However, Jefferson never appeared in any games.
Jefferson, 25, went undrafted last June and joined the Timberwolves for training camp. After being waived by the team prior to the start of the regular season, Jefferson joined the G League’s Iowa Wolves.
In 47 games, Jefferson averaged 17.8 PPG and 12.8 RPG for Iowa, making shots at a 62.4% rate. He set a new NBAGL record by racking up 36 double-doubles.
Orlando now has both of its two-way slots filled. The other one is occupied by point guard Troy Caupain.
The Cavaliers have agreed to sign free agent swingman David Nwaba, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). According to Charania and Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), Nwaba and the Cavs are still in the process of finalizing the details of the deal.
A former undrafted free agent, Nwaba had a solid season for the Bulls in 2017/18, averaging 7.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG while playing strong perimeter defense in 70 games (21 starts). He opened the month of July as a restricted free agent, but when Chicago made a series of cost-cutting moves to create the cap room necessary to sign Jabari Parker, rescinding Nwaba’s qualifying offer was one of those moves.
After Nwaba became an unrestricted free agent, Vardon reported that there was mutual interest between the 25-year-old and the Cavaliers. Nwaba also reportedly drew interest from the Lakers and Spurs, and Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that there was “lots of dialogue” with the Timberwolves, but Cleveland was aggressive in its pursuit.
According to Charania (via Twitter), the Cavs were in touch with Nwaba from the very first day of free agency and recruited him hard, meeting last week with the Los Angeles native.
While the terms of Nwaba’s deal with the Cavs aren’t yet known, the team has plenty of options for what it could have offered. Cleveland is over the cap, but still has its full mid-level and bi-annual exceptions available.
Nwaba will only be the 12th Cavaliers player on a fully guaranteed contract for 2018/19, though the club also has decisions to make on Rodney Hood‘s restricted free agency and Okaro White‘s non-guaranteed salary. With approximately $108MM in guaranteed money on their books before signing Nwaba or accounting for Hood or White, the Cavs will have one eye on the $123.73MM tax line as they fill out their roster.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Timberwolves have given off the impression that they won’t trade Jimmy Butler but Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders speculates that a rocky start to the season could make the franchise reconsider its position.
The Western Conference is as competitive as ever and Minnesota is no lock to be a playoff team. Should the Wolves slide in the standings, Butler’s frustration with his teammates could grow and with only one season remaining on his deal, there won’t be much time to mend the relationship.
The front office has tried to get Butler to sign an extension with no success. However, it is worth noting that it’s in the 28-year-old’s best interest to wait and sign a new deal in the offseason rather than inking an extension now since he’s eligible for a larger starting salary this summer.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Trail Blazers have no clear path to improve enough in order to compete with the Warriors for the Western Conference crown and Kyler (in the same piece) wonders whether it will force Portland to consider dealing Damian Lillard. Kyler adds that the point guard is “loyal to a fault,” meaning a lack of success for the franchise won’t result in him demanding a trade.
- The Rockets‘ loss of Trevor Ariza and addition of Carmelo Anthony has critics yet again doubting the team. Coach Mike D’Antoni isn’t worried about the skeptics, as Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle relays. “It’s our job to prove them wrong,” D’Antoni said. “And we did it for two years now.”
- Solomon (in the same piece) notes how many around the league doubted the Chris Paul–James Harden pairing, believing that with only one ball, the two players couldn’t possibly flourish. The Rockets ended last season with a record of 44-4 in games in which both players started and Solomon cautions against writing off the Anthony acquisition without seeing him alongside the team’s stars.
7:00pm: The Timberwolves have officially signed Williams to a two-way deal, the team announced today in a press release.
11:23am: The Timberwolves are in the process of finalizing a two-way contract with swingman C.J. Williams, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Williams recently became an unrestricted free agent after being waived by the Clippers last Friday.
[RELATED: 2018/19 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
Williams, 28, began his professional career in 2012 after going undrafted out of N.C. State. Having played for international and G League teams for the last several years, the 6’5″ guard caught on with the Clippers in 2017, signing a two-way contract with the club last October. He made his NBA debut in November and appeared in 38 overall games for the Clippers, averaging 5.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 18.6 minutes per contest.
Williams’ solid showing on his two-way deal earned him a standard NBA multiyear contract near the end of the 2017/18 season, but it was mostly non-guaranteed, making his hold on a roster spot precarious. He became in expendable this summer in L.A., where the Clips have 16 players on guaranteed salaries for 2018/19.
With Williams on the verge of joining the club, Minnesota has now filled both of its two-way contract slots. Former Rhode Island shooting guard Jared Terrell signed a two-way deal with the club earlier this month. Terrell and Williams should provide the Timberwolves with some extra depth on the wing, though they’ll only be eligible to spend up to 45 days with the NBA team during the G League season.
- The Timberwolves have an extension decision to make this summer on Tyus Jones, notes Derek James of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Coach Tom Thibodeau has promised Jones more playing time in the future, but that could be difficult to deliver with Derrick Rose returning and Josh Okogie as the team’s first-round pick.
- Timberwolves shooting guard Jimmy Butler underwent a minor elective procedure on his right hand, the team’s PR department tweets. Butler has already returned to offseason activities.
- As part of a Wolves’ mailbag, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic opines that although the relationship between Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves could obviously use some work right now, the opportunity for repair remains, as Towns likely would have cancelled his recent basketball camp in the Twin Cities had he already completely written off Minnesota as a long-term home.